


A Soul For A Soul

by niennavalier



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Family, Fix-It, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, I have feelings, Light Angst, Soul Stone (Marvel), Vormir, mostly unedited
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-30
Updated: 2019-04-30
Packaged: 2020-02-10 04:10:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18652639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/niennavalier/pseuds/niennavalier
Summary: Vormir was more than merely a planet, just as the Infinity Stones were more than merely stones. It had borne witness to many a journey to seek the Soul Stone, borne witness to many facing the test presented by the Stone: a soul for a soul. Most mortals react in one of few, often predictable, ways.But not all. Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton may prove unique in that regard.(Fix-it for That Part in Endgame. SPOILERS AHEAD.)





	A Soul For A Soul

**Author's Note:**

> I had Thoughts regarding the Soul Stone in Endgame, so this is legitimately what I thought would happen. (Before being subsequently disappointed). POV of Vormir (yes, POV of a planet, I'm sorry) so I hope this makes sense.

              The planet of Vormir had seen a great number of things over such a long expanse of time. People coming and going – a handful of guardians, replaced over the years, for even aided by the planet’s magic, mortal bodies could only last for so long.  And those who came to seek the Soul Stone, guided sometimes by curiosity, desperation, a grand sense of purpose, and propelled by the promises of a legend few truly knew or understood. For the few who learned of the stone’s location knew much of Vormir itself, the judgement it passed on those who desired power.

              Many would venture to the planet in pairs or groups – some strange happenstance apparently common to mortal lives, even the most power-hungry among them travelling with the company of others. It was not something required for the judgement, but many mortals seemed to think it so, learning of the trial from Vormir’s appointed guardian and electing to sacrifice the life of one of their own. Even those who travelled alone – those who truly desired the power of the Soul Stone – would leave the planet and later return, their sacrifice in tow. Or else they would decide such a sacrifice was not worth the cost, departing to never return.

              Most who did so would gain the power of the soul stone, sacrificing something dear to them, the act making them worthy of such power. It was a test of wills, after all, a measure of the seeker’s own soul, of its fortitude and belief in its own purpose. Neither Vormir nor the Soul Stone itself judged the morality of those souls. It was not their purpose to interfere with the affairs of mortal beings. Aspects of the universe – space, time, reality, power, mind, and soul – were only that; they were not meant to take sides. A soul was a soul, just as power was merely power, and reality was merely reality – all raw forces that the lives they oversaw could use and bend in their own way. Worthiness to the Soul Stone – to any of the Infinity Stones – was not determined by the ever-changing whims of morality.

              Even so, many tended to misunderstand the nature of the sacrifice which the Soul Stone required, the measures by which it and Vormir determined their worth.

              Mortals liked to reach for the simplest explanation offered to them, no matter their heritage. The notion of a sacrifice, of a soul for a soul, led many seekers to assume the sacrifice was to be another person, a person which they loved, for it was rare that a person would seek the Soul Stone and be entirely bereft of love. And while such an interpretation was not incorrect, it was far from the only one, but few stumbled upon another meaning. It had happened, of course; Vormir had protected the Soul Stone since the start of the universe, seen a great number of mortals wield it for their short lifespans, after which the stone would always return to the planet. However, it was only the most lonely, the most desperate, the most selfless of mortals who ever found new meaning. Often those who came alone, who had lost all that they loved, who were willing to give everything because they had nothing left, no other choices offered to them.

              But it did not happen frequently; even those in such a situation often left in search of one of the other Stones, afraid of such a price.

              And so when Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton arrived on Vormir, it did not expect anything particularly interesting. One was likely worthy, or neither; many past encounters seemed to prove it to be so.

              What it did not perhaps expect was for them to linger as long as they did. And while the planet had been home to a great many arguments, the one taking place was one of a rare few, both willing to sacrifice themselves, yet not the other. Not a common occurrence, yet still more common than what would transpire after. Both friends fighting over which would sacrifice themselves for their cause, only for Natasha Romanoff to ultimately leap from the edge, making the decision for both of them.

              It was at that point that most mortals would assume Vormir to shroud itself in darkness, transport Clint Barton to the shallow lake beneath the ledge, wait for him to awaken with the Soul Stone in hand as he emerged from the water. And yet, that did not happen, the planet entirely still as Clint Barton pulled himself back over the ledge, began to descend the mountain, too lost in his own grief to notice the dark mist encompassing the body of his friend, now laid deathly still down below.

              Yet not dead. For the Stone merely tested the wills of those desiring it; it did not seek to cause death. A test of a soul for a soul – not the price of a life for a stone.

              And so the magic of Vormir transported Natasha Romanoff to the still waters of the lake, keeping a hold on her consciousness until Clint Barton had recognized her silhouette beneath the surface, had gone rushing toward her. The planet’s magic released her, then, now nothing more than a spectator as he pulled her into a long embrace, relief replacing grief, any confusion not yet realized. For both had appeared to have forgotten the reason they had come to Vormir at all.

              It seemed they only recalled it as he helped her to stand, the Soul Stone appearing between their palms as they broke the surface of the water, confusion evidently beginning to settle in. For they, too, had assumed that the sacrifice implied the sacrifice of another, with the one who lived gaining the Soul Stone and the one sacrificed being killed in the process. Yet they had, unwittingly, discovered that the rules were not quite so clear.

              For she had made the sacrifice, not him, entitling her to the Soul Stone. Although that far from deemed him unworthy, both of them willing to make the same sacrifice; she had merely beaten him to it. Both had passed the trial presented to them; both had proven the strength of their souls; both were right to wield the Stone.

              It was rare that anyone chose self-sacrifice as their means of proving themselves to the Stone. It was even rarer still that two people cared so deeply for the other that both would come to the same conclusion. But it did happen every few millennia. And although the Stones did not judge the morals of those they came into contact with, they were still aware of the leading beliefs of the time, the common judgements of character.

              Selflessness, love, and friendship – the traits exemplified by these new wielders of the Soul Stone – those were often counted among the marks of true heroes.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, I thought this would happen. Although the whole "sentient planet and Infinity Stones" is just my new personal fanon. And I'm a little sad it didn't, cause I really thought they were gonna find "door number three". But I won't ramble on about that here, and pleeease come talk to me on tumblr because just gah Endgame.
> 
> Hope you all survived Endgame :)


End file.
